In the Morgan household as us siblings grew up from children to adults, our family began an annual Christmas tradition when I was relatively young of picking a sibling’s name (in secret the year before) and MAKING a gift for them rather than buying it.

We even included the in-laws in this tradtion over the years. Some of us who had artistic talent enjoyed this tradition while others balked at the custom due to their lack of creativity and cleverness.

Some of the items people made over the years (that I remember) were quilts, paintings, cedar chests, plaques, knitted mittens/gloves and ornaments. There was even a bumblebee lamp made out of a plastic milk carton as well as a miniature sculpture of my father and his caricaturing booth. Some were works of art, some were destined for the trash or the spring rummage sale.

One summer as an 18-year-old living at home, I received a letter in the mail addressed to me from an unknown source. After opening the letter and reading its contents, it appeared to me I had an admirer by the name of Vera. She wrote as if she knew me well and promised to continue to write to get to know me better with the hope of meeting up some time in the near future.

This went on for several months as I began regularly receiving letters from this young woman who captured my curiousity with each and every mailing.

Finally, as the fall months came and went, Vera promised to come out of the shadows and meet me in a secret location so we could share in each other’s company. (Boy was I blind-sided on this one.)

As Christmas approached, I received one final letter from Vera saying she was coming to meet me. She told me to keep my ears and eyes open for when she decides to make her appearance.

Yep, she made the appearance at my family Christmas gathering on Christmas Eve of that year. In all the busyness of the Holidays and wracked with my own responsibility of making a gift for another family member, I never put two-and-two together.

When it was my turn to open my hand-made gift (who I found out was one of my older sisters, Valerie), I grabbed the large box in front of me and started ripping the wrapping paper with anticipation. Inside, I found a short, hand-written letter from “Vera” saying something to the effect, “I hope the wait was worth it.” Inside, and with my face redder than Rudolph’s nose, was Vera — a hand-made, life-size doll made out of cloth, yarn and wood. 

My sister had “got” me.

As I sat there holding the doll up for pictures, I pondered how I could have been so gullible to fall for the ruse my sister set up for me. Maybe it was because she started the ruse so many months earlier that I didn’t even suspect anything? I don’t know but it garnered a lot of laughs that night.

Oh well, I did take it all in stride — though I still hoped this dream girl/stalker had turned out to be real. 

Here’s wishing your Christmas is full of the same anticipation, hopes and dreams as Vera’s letters.